1. Description of the prior art
Great care must be exercised when placing cargoes for transportation outside a motor vehicle. Safety concerns dictate that the cargo be properly supported and securely restrained to prevent movement during transportation.
Many vehicle racks are available for transporting cargoes. Some can be installed on the roof of a vehicle such as a car or a van. Others are mountable in an overhead position above the bed of a pickup truck. Although many are sufficiently sturdy to support the cargo, they have many deficiencies and drawbacks.
For example, many cargo racks characterized by a frame structure do not have integral provisions for restraining a cargo. The user has to provide ropes or straps to secure the cargo on the rack. Ropes and straps are easily lost, and their lack of integration with the cargo rack slows cargo handling. More particularly, after the cargo is positioned on the rack, the rope must be attached to the frame structure on one side of the cargo, passed over the cargo to the other side, and then attached to the opposite side of the frame. In the process, the user usually has to move from one side of the vehicle to the other several times while manipulating the rope and maintaining it in tension. This process is even more inconvenient and cumbersome when separate cargoes of different sizes and shapes are to be secured on the rack.
Also, in some rack systems rigid upstanding posts are provided to laterally support the cargo. These are not aesthetically pleasing and their height may prevent entry to many building structures.
Accordingly, what is needed is a cargo rack which can provide appropriate cargo support and restraint in an efficient manner. The rack must be capable of accommodating cargoes of different weights, sizes and shapes, and should be easily accessible to a user. Also, the cargo rack should have a low profile to satisfy vertical clearances of typical commercial and residential building entrances.